My Other Joy

I did these pictures for a good friend of mine. It was fun to play with some texturing techniques. I love working on pictures. I told Kyle last night that I am slightly obsessed. When I get into editing a set of pictures from a session, I can hardly stop until it is all done - even if it means not going to bed until midnight or later (not really the wisest thing for a mom of a newborn and early-rising boys). I know I have much room to improve - which is actually exciting to me. I really enjoying having my small side business. I meet lots of fun people and it is a fun little out for me. I am so thankful for the support Kyle gives me in all this. He is always willing and excited to do things to build my studio. It makes all the difference in chasing your dreams when the one you love and admire the most gives you unconditional love and support.

March 7, 2008

I wanted to post about the birth of my nephew - Rian Reyamiah Ludlam
Born, March 7 - on his late grandfather's birthday .
He weighed 8 lbs. 12 oz.
My mom now has 9 grandchildren with 7 of them being boys.
Congrats Dawn and Jared! Welcome to our family Baby Rian.
m

In the Eye of the Beholder

Tonight as Kekoa and I waited for Kyle to come home from his late night at school, we watched the News. One of the commercials that came on during a break was for Pantene shampoo. Kekoa totally threw me off guard when after the commercial he said, "Mom, that girl was beautiful." He said it casually and matter-of-factly. I tried not to react to much and asked which girl. He just said, "The girl, the one you saw and I saw, yeah, she was beautiful." I was only slightly consoled when he then said, "You're beautiful too, Mom."
Not even three and a half..... oh boy....
m

The Reyes Boys- Guess Who! ???

1

2

3

Yesterday I took a look at some baby pictures of the older boys. It was so fun to remember how tiny they were. It actually made me a little sad to see how much they've grown so quickly. My babies are growing up too soon. But - I decided it might be fun to compare pictures of the three boys. They all look so similar that I thought it might be fun to have a little guessing contest. So here are the three boys all around the same age - just a couple days old. Can YOU guess who is who? Kekoa? Ikaika? Sepa? Leave guesses in the comments section.

Want a Hard Copy of That?

(PS. this is obviously not my picture)

Since blogging is one of my ways of keeping a journal, I have always wondered if there was a way to turn it into a real book. Happily someone has created and program (and is probably making tons of money by now) for just that. So here is the website in case anyone else wants the info. Hooray for family history.
http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook

Sick, sick, sick and sick

For some reason I feel like I can't do a post unless I have a picture to go along with it. I need to just write -
So this week we worked through our little family sickness. Kyle was the only one spared. Everyone handled it a little differently. Kekoa didn't slow down at all even though he coughed like crazy. Ikaika was extra cranky and clingy - which makes it so hard for me when two babies need to be held. Ikaika is not willing to share me at all when he wants to be held. There was a couple times when I switched back and forth between Sepa and Kaika, with whomever was left out screaming as if I had abandoned them. Those were moments of craziness, but luckily I am WAY past the first-time-mother tendency to feel like my child is going to die if they cry a little. Sepa, sadly, was also sick. I felt so sorry for him and strongly feel it should be against the laws of nature for infants to get sick. I also get sick, which made being a mom difficult. Thankfully, Kyle rescued me the day I was the worst, by staying home for the day and giving me and Sepa a priesthood blessing. We are all well on the road to full recovery and I pray nothing will hit us again this season.
So - looking at the "what can I learn" side of this week, I've decided that the good thing about going through it all has to do with my future perspective on having three kids. It will all seem a little easier. If I can handle three sick kids as well as myself, then three healthy kids is all that much less stressful.
I look forward to a new week with happy, healthy days.
m

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Here are a couple things Kekoa has said that I want to remember -

In the middle of me disciplining him:
"But Mom! You're not the problem, I'm the problem!"

When Kyle announced to me he was going to do the dishes:
"Dishes! I love Dishes! I want to do dishes!"
( I said I wanted to hear him say that ten years from now).

I can't remember exactly (I need to write these things down right away), but I think Kyle had told Kekoa that mommy and daddy were married. Kekoa responded:
"But mom, you can marry me. I'm a boy!"

Kyle asked Kekoa to clean up his mess. When he actually did as he was asked, Kyle told him "You rock Kekoa." He responded, "I'm not a rock, I'm a human!"

We were doing FHE together. Kekoa said, " I love Sepa, Mommy, Daddy and Ikaika. I am a Super Hero and I will protect my family!"

I came downstairs one morning to have Kekoa greet me with, "Good morning, Super mom!"

I'll post more as they develop...

Photo Booth

Our new MAC has this fun little application called Photo Booth. Here's a quick shot we took as a family. Sepa is still in the newborn phase of sleeping most of the time so he was not in this picture.
We have all been sick - including poor little Sepa. It really is so sad to see such a tiny person so sick. Hopefully soon it will all be over.

That Precious Smile

Today Sepa smiled at me for the first time. I am not sure how real it was (smiling because he saw me rather than a result of funny feelings in his tummy because of gas), but I'll take it. Seeing those smiles make parenting a little easier and gives me energy to keep going. I thought of this poem that a friend of mine gave me after I had Kekoa. I do not know the author though.

Dear Lord, it's such a hectic day,
with little time to stop and pray.
For life's been anything but calm,
since you called me to be a mom.
Running errands, matching socks,
building dreams with building blocks.
Cooking cleaning, and finding shoes,
and other stuff that children lose.
Getting lids on bottled bugs,
wiping tears and giving hugs.
A stack of last week's mail to read,
so where's the quiet time I need?
Yet when I steal a minute, Lord,
just at the sink or ironing board.
To ask the blessing of your grace,
I see then, in my small one's face.
That you have blessed me all the while,
and I stop to kiss that precious smile.

I am just grateful to be a mom, even though three children has proven to be quite the challenge. Life is a little crazy, but I can't bear the thought of not having one of those boys as mine. I love them so much.
Another poem I like says:

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

I need to remember how fleeting this time really is, and just enjoy my little ones.